Bruce Pearl is speaking to us Tuesday morning before practice and before leaving for Spokane and the first round matchup against Yale in the NCAA Tournament. Here's a summary...
** Pearl says the Ivy League has had a really good record in NCAAT in last eight years. They've won three games. Yale beat Baylor in 2016 and Princeton beat Arizona last year. They've also had several near misses.
** Yale is a good team and good program and a history of first-round upsets. They play hard and physical and smart. Will run great stuff and have good 3-point shooters.
** Pearl said they've primarily prepared for Yale so far. Also scouting UAB and SDSU.
** Pearl said he's fine with the seed but it could be better.
** Spokane is a beautiful city. Excited to see Gonzaga and their campus, but I'd rather go there fishing. Feel for families and fans trying to get out there. The pod system was created so this wouldn't happen. We have to leave Tuesday to play Friday in a different time zone.
** If we're lucky enough to win, we won't leave until Monday.
** Pearl said they should study where most teams are coming from in the Tournament and put more pods in those regions.
** Pearl said he's not going to talk about winning SEC Championship much now. Tennessee is 0-2 since winning the regular season championship. Can't celebrate for long. Our guys will be excited about playing in this tournament and we'll get them ready.
** Pearl said he thought this was a good team that could be very good. We became a better defensive team and became physical enough to compete. We've done a great job of being unselfish and accepting less individually so we could achieve more as a team.
** Pearl said August Mahoney may be best 3-pointer shooter in country. Their 7-footer is very versatile and can do a lot. Point guard is very good too. The key is to defend without fouling.
** Think it's important that so many players have been here at Auburn for 4 or 5 years like Jaylin, Dylan and Chris Moore. Moore is a great leader and loves Auburn. He didn't want to let his teammates and coaches down early in the year and lost confidence in himself. He lost spot to Lior Berman. Pearl talked to him about staying ready and learn from what happened. He did. He didn't put too much pressure on himself and is enjoying the game.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
** Pearl says the Ivy League has had a really good record in NCAAT in last eight years. They've won three games. Yale beat Baylor in 2016 and Princeton beat Arizona last year. They've also had several near misses.
** Yale is a good team and good program and a history of first-round upsets. They play hard and physical and smart. Will run great stuff and have good 3-point shooters.
** Pearl said they've primarily prepared for Yale so far. Also scouting UAB and SDSU.
** Pearl said he's fine with the seed but it could be better.
** Spokane is a beautiful city. Excited to see Gonzaga and their campus, but I'd rather go there fishing. Feel for families and fans trying to get out there. The pod system was created so this wouldn't happen. We have to leave Tuesday to play Friday in a different time zone.
** If we're lucky enough to win, we won't leave until Monday.
** Pearl said they should study where most teams are coming from in the Tournament and put more pods in those regions.
** Pearl said he's not going to talk about winning SEC Championship much now. Tennessee is 0-2 since winning the regular season championship. Can't celebrate for long. Our guys will be excited about playing in this tournament and we'll get them ready.
** Pearl said he thought this was a good team that could be very good. We became a better defensive team and became physical enough to compete. We've done a great job of being unselfish and accepting less individually so we could achieve more as a team.
** Pearl said August Mahoney may be best 3-pointer shooter in country. Their 7-footer is very versatile and can do a lot. Point guard is very good too. The key is to defend without fouling.
** Think it's important that so many players have been here at Auburn for 4 or 5 years like Jaylin, Dylan and Chris Moore. Moore is a great leader and loves Auburn. He didn't want to let his teammates and coaches down early in the year and lost confidence in himself. He lost spot to Lior Berman. Pearl talked to him about staying ready and learn from what happened. He did. He didn't put too much pressure on himself and is enjoying the game.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
